Alius Mundus
by TheNightIsFading
Summary: Alius Mundus is attacked by her stepdad, and must leave home with her daemon at a young age.
1. Memories~Eternity 1

Author's note: I want to start a good His Dark Materials story, since my other ones are horrible. The only one that even came close to being good was Forever, so I decided to merge my idea for a new story with Forever a bit. Review and tell me if you like it. Also, his is probably my second best story, and this one will be very long.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Philip Pullman's characters, and I am not making any money from this fan fiction. You really can't sue me for not putting in a disclaimer, since you know nothing about me. The only thing I get form this is happiness.  
  
Rating: Pg-13, for slight violence, and some material that might not really be appropriate for children under 13.  
  
Chapter One  
  
  
  
Alius Mundus was being spied on. She had known it form the moment she had first met the suspiciously man her mother was planning on marrying. He scared her. Everyone around them, particularly the servants who were frightened of him because of the rumors of what he did to the little girl servants, also knew there was something not right about him.  
  
Alius also knew that her father had gone on a mysterious voyage to the north near Lapland five years ago. She knew that Sylvester was a Russkan spy, just by looking at him. But it also didn't take an idiot to figure out the were being spied on when their mother's fiancée came into their room at night and sorted through their things. Alius was also getting tired of being pumped for information about her father.  
  
One night, on the night Alius' mother, Rachela Mundus, would announced her engagement, Alius was sitting on an unfamiliar, uncomfortable chair in what had used to be her father's study. Before he disappeared. Sylvester was pumping her for information again.  
  
"…And you have no idea where he went? None at all?"  
  
"No," she answered, trying to stay calm, while gritting her teeth so that she didn't lash out at him. That would get her in bigger trouble. She knew what he might do to her. Everyone in the house did. Especially those young servant girls. Her daemon was in a mouse shape, raising his hackles slightly. He was ready to leap up and fight Sylvester's ugly toad daemon. Alius put a hand on his back; it was not polite to let your daemon turn into a shape larger than that of the adult you were addressing.  
  
The ugly, tall man paced across the room, and Alius desperately wished that she could be downstairs, with the rest of the party. Special occasions were the only times when no one watched how much the young girl drank, and no one cared anyhow. Once she and her friends had gotten drunk, and woke up on the Oxford docks somehow, though none of them could remember how.  
  
"He never said anything?"  
  
"No, Sir," she whispered, because he would hear the anger in her voice if she raised it. "Nothing. Not a word."  
  
He turned and studied her face for a moment. Alius knew that if he chose to attack her, she would be at his mercy, because she had seen him close and lock the door, and the servants wouldn't help her. They had never helped the little servant girls.  
  
Sylvester walked over towards her and slid his finger along her cheek. She recoiled, and her daemon turned into a wildcat, leaping to the floor and hissing loudly. The toad daemon hopped to the top of a high cabinet, where the daemon of Alius couldn't reach it. Alius guessed that that was how Sylvester got away with all of it; the girl's dog daemons could not get on top of a high cabinet.  
  
The man put his face close to Alius' and she prepared to spit at him.  
  
"Now, Alius. Don't be so silly," he hissed, right in her ear. She shoved him back and ran over to the door, with her daemon, Shinzui at her feet. The doors were locked, and she stood there as the man cornered her. "Don't be afraid of me," he whispered. "You don't believe those rumors." He seemed to be telling her what to think. "Right?"  
  
She shook her head rapidly, trying to think of a way to escape. N-no, sir."  
  
"Good. And are you a big girl, or a little girl?"  
  
Alius was terrified. Her daemon was now in the form of a wolf, with his hackles raised. Sylvester ignored him; daemons would not touch another human purposely unless they were in love, or about to die. Alius had no idea what to say. She stayed quiet and still. Anything she said could be used against her.  
  
"Ahh… Seeing as we are both adults, you may call me papa, and I will call you Ms. Mundus."  
  
Her daemon thought to her, ~What do we do?~  
  
**I don't know! Is he going to do something to us?**  
  
~He might. He's mad. Look at him.~  
  
He was leaning in to kiss her. She leapt out of the way just in time; he hadn't grabbed her arms, and he ended up falling into the wall.  
  
She backed off slowly, thinking that he would be furious. Instead, he laughed. "You naughty girl! Get back here!"  
  
Alius shook her head fiercely, and her daemon turned into a tiger and leapt in front of her. He might not be able to touch the man attacking his human, but he could still protect her.  
  
"It's any father's right!" he said. "You can't grow up unless you let me."  
  
Alius didn't know about that, but she knew she would never let him. "What about those servant girls? You aren't their father, and you sure as hell aren't mine!"  
  
The window across the room was wide open. Alius glanced around that room once more, then raced towards it. She leapt out easily; she was small for her age. Shinzui turned into a crow and soared out after her. She knew she wouldn't die, the fall was only two stories. However, her ankle was sprained and twisted, and her arm came out of its socket when she fell. Shinzui was fine.  
  
He turned into a horse, and bent down to allow her to mount him, and together they rode off into the Oxford night.  
  
As Alius sat there, trying not to cry; since she hadn't cried since she was an infant, she remembered a conversation she had had one day with one of the older servant girls with a settled daemon.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Alius," the older girl said. Alius remembered her name as Sam, but she wasn't sure that was it. "Listen to me."  
  
Alius had always been a good listener, and so had Shinzui. Even so, it was hard for Sam to get her to pay attention. An eight year old girl didn't want to listen to some boring lecture. In the end, Sm only got her to listen by telling her that they would go by the market, and maybe she would by a choclatal.  
  
"What, Sam?" It was just after Sylvester had arrived, three months after her father had disapered.  
  
"Don't ever go near Mr. Ronvolkin when he is intoxicated. And don't ever go near his room at night!"  
  
At that time, Alius had wondered why she needed to know that. She wouldn't go near that mean old man who was taking her mummy away.  
  
"I won't."  
  
Sam was crying then. "You have to promise!" she sobbed. "Alimooooooooonddddd!"  
  
The eight-year-old girl was frightenedby Sam. "I promise!" she declared. "But why?"  
  
"I was near his study…N-never mind."  
  
"No!" cried Alius. "You tell me now!"  
  
Even then, Alius had hated to be told to never mind. It made her feel as if she was missing out on some grand secret.  
  
Sam shook her head regretfully. "I can't!"  
  
"It's not Mr. Ronvolkin's study!" she exclaimed, suddenly realizing what Sam had just said. "It's my father's, and someday it will be mine!"  
  
Alius jumped up and raced away form Sam, and up to her room. A week later, Sam was gone, and Alius never saw her again.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Alius opened her weary eyes and saw that she was in the poorer area of Oxford. It was still night; nothing about the sky told her any time had passed. She knew she must have fallen asleep, though, because Shinzui was trudging along doggedly, making an effort to saty awake. If he fell asleep, something could happen to his human.  
  
"Oh, good," he yawned, dumping the girl off his back and changing into a white stoat. She set him on her shoulder. "now I can rest."  
  
Alius smiled slightly, then looked around, slightly alarmed. "Why are we here? This is where the poor folk live."  
  
"You act like they're a different species, Alius!" her daemon laughed.  
  
"No, it's only the way Mother tried to teach me. What I meant was, there are a lot of things what could 'appen here," Alius replied. "So turn into something big and guard me!"  
  
"Guard yourself," the daemon growled, but turned into a coyote anyway.  
  
"I don't recognize this place. Where are we?"  
  
"Somewhere near Jordan. The Botanical Gardens are just around the corner," replied Shinzui.  
  
"Then we'll stop there for the night. And tomorrow we have to move before Mr. Ronvolkin catches us."  
  
They headed toward the garden.  
  
Shinzui said, "We should go home soon. Mayhap no one but Mr. Ronvolkin knows we're gone."  
  
Alius scowled, and narrowed her eyes at some beggars who seemed to be sizing her up. Suddenly she wished she hadn't worn her new ermine fur coat. They were most likely thinking about how much money they could get for it. Alius was glad they didn't know how much she had in her purse, which she wore around her waist.  
  
"We are never going back there!" she exclaimed. "I don't suppose you need me to explain to you what he would have done?"  
  
"He had too much alcohol. He wouldn't do it if he knew what he was doing."  
  
"Stop it!" she shouted. "Do you want to go back? Are you insane?"  
  
A few people who were walking by noticed that she and her daemon were arguing, and though they wanted to see why such a little girl dressed the way she was would be in this part of the town in the middle of the night, they couldn't. It would be considered as interfering, and it was custom for other people to ignore the quarrels of a human and their daemon. They just walked away, pretending they hadn't seen it.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said sadly, hanging his head. "We won't go back. I don't know why I said that." As and afterthought, he added, "This isn't just about Mr. Ronvolkin, is it?"  
  
She tilted her head towards him, as they entered the beautiful garden. "What do you mean?" she pursed her lips. "I suppose I want to find Father before Mother can get married. Think of how happy she'll be!"  
  
"Oh, Ali," the daemon said, using the nickname Alius hated. "There is almost no chance of that. One in a billion!"  
  
"Then there's still that one billionth. We'll find him, or never go back!"  
  
And the daemon knew there was no way he could persuade his human to do otherwise. He looked up at the stars, thinking that something else was happening, and soon it would influence them. It was a feeling impossible to shake off, and he got a chill. Turning into a rattlesnake, he wrapped himself around Alius' arm as she settled down on a bench for the night.  
  
"Do you remember Sam?"  
  
Shinzui was surprised. "Of course! She warned us about… Oh."  
  
They sat in silence for a while.  
  
"We never listen, Shin. Why is that?"  
  
"I don't know," her daemon replied truthfully. "But form now on we will!"  
  
And together they fell asleep on the bench, not knowing that by that time the next day, they would be on a grand adventure they would never forget.  
  
  
  
A/n: So how do you like it? This story developed in my head for a long time, and I'm glad I finally decided to post it. If you have any questions, please put them in reviews. Thanks. 


	2. Meeting~Eternity 2

Chapter two  
  
  
  
The sun was glaring down upon Oxford city, as Alius Mundus and her daemon, Shinzui woke up the next morning. Alius sat up and rubbed her eyes, wondering what had possessed her to choose a seat so close to the path, where anyone could see her. She glanced down at her watch and realized that it was ten minutes till noon. Her daemon, in the form of a silver fox, his favorite sleeping form, woke up and gazed at her.  
  
"'Morning," he said, brightly, changing into a nightingale, and taking air. "Too bad we have to miss the festiveness."  
  
Alius shook her head, wondering how horrible her hair looked, and what her daemon thought he was playing at. "I'm not going back," she replied. "So don't even bother to try."  
  
Shinzui was surprised. "I wasn't trying to! I was just pointing out that you won't be able to sneak out of the house to go play with the street children."  
  
"We're too old anyhow," replied Alius. "And shouldn't we go? Mr. Ronvolkin will be trying to find us by now."  
  
Her daemon abruptly landed on her shoulder and whispered frantically into her ear. "On your left! I saw them through those trees! Walk away slowly."  
  
Alius was tempted to run, but she knew it would only catch someone's attention. Instead of running, she walked slowly, partly because she knew that she would get caught if she ran, and partly because her daemon was pulling back, slowing her down. When she reached the path, Shinzui flew back up and looked around for their pursuers. Alius ran, faster than she had ever run before. There was no way she was going to get caught. Besides the fact that t would mean to her, that Mr. Ronvolkin was better than her, she had nothing back home. Obviously her mother didn't care about her, as she was marring a Russkan spy! Alius knew that one of the reasons her mother was marrying was because she was pregnant. That didn't change the fact.  
  
"Behind you!" Shinzui shouted, and Alius twisted her head to look back, and saw Manny, who had been her father's manservant. He wasn't as fast as her, seeing as how he was almost sixty-years-old, and not at all in shape. That might have been because his wife and sister were the cooks back at the manor.  
  
She stopped, not at all tired yet, though she could see how exhausted Manny was. His Irish setter daemon trotted along beside him.  
  
"What do you want?" Alius cried out, glaring at him.  
  
"We was looking for you all night, me an' me daemon. Messter Ronvolkin wants you to go back," the man panted.  
  
"Well, then you just tell him I won't!" Alius replied indignantly. "No! You stay away from me!" She pointed her finger at the man as he approached her slowly. Wildcat formed Shinzui nipped at the other daemon.  
  
"Listen, Ali…He's mad!"  
  
Alius crossed her arms over her chest. "Humph! Sounds like a personal problem to me! Now, if you'll excuse me?"  
  
"Wait!" the man cried. "It's summer's mid day! You can eat and we may even let you drink a bit. After all, you is thirteen now."  
  
"Oh ho! He'd like that now, wouldn't he?"  
  
The man scratched his head, looking very confused.  
  
"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know! You have a young daughter!" Alius said, backing away slowly. "And whose servant are you, anyhow? I thought you were my father's servant!"  
  
"I were, but he's dead."  
  
"No he en't! And I'm going to find him you—you—you—evil—you—TRAITOR!" she screamed, turning and fleeing into the garden.  
  
She expected the servant to follow her, but, to her surprise, he stood there and hung his head. His daemon hung her tail between her legs and followed him as he trudged away.  
  
"Shinzui," said Alius. "Why didn't he follow us? Surely he wasn't hurt by what I said?"  
  
"Of course he was," Shinzui replied. "He is a servant. As far as he is concerned, Mister Ronvolkin is his master now."  
  
Alius shrugged, feeling bad. "Well, I just hope he won't tell where I am."  
  
She had reached the other side of the path, and walked back out of the garden, onto the busy Oxford boulevard, filled with people headed towards the market, or Midsummer's Day festivals.  
  
Ahead of Alius, a girl was running towards her, hugging a small black bag under her arm, with her red-gold daemon racing ahead of her. Her head was down, and she kept glancing down at her watch.  
  
When she reached the gate of the grounds, she stopped, looking up and seeing Alius for the first time.  
  
"Oh! Umm, hello," the other girl said.  
  
"Hullo. Where's the fire?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why are you in such a hurry. There is a man who most likely has a gun in there!" Alius said, her wildcat-formed daemon nodding his head.  
  
The other girl was almost hopping around, she seemed so anxious. "Excuse me! I have to meet someone."  
  
"Well," said Alius, "no one else is there. I was just inside, and no one else has come through. What's your name?"  
  
"Lyra Belacqua," the girl replied.  
  
Alius' eyes widened. "What?! Really? My father went on an expedition with Asriel Belacqua once!" She was speaking of the exploration of the north when her father had never returned.  
  
"Yes. It's almost noon. I have two minutes. Can you please move?"  
  
"I'm Alius Mundus. I've heard all about you, Lyra. My friend, the witch Serafina Pekkala told me."  
  
"You know about Serafina?"  
  
Alius nodded. The witch had visited her often until a year ago.  
  
Lyra glanced around. "Can we talk later? I'm busy right now. Meet me here tomorrow at four o clock."  
  
With that, she turned and ran into the garden. Alius stared after her, and glanced down at her watch. It was noon and a minute.  
  
"Shall we meet her tomorrow?" Shinzui asked. "She seems to want to talk with us."  
  
"Certainly. But I'm hungry right now, and we need to get something to eat."  
  
Together, they walked down the sidewalk. Alius was thinking about food, since she didn't really focus on much. She would rather just ignore confusing things. Her daemon was thinking of how strange it was that they were meeting the girl their witch friend had told them so much about. Of course, they had thought Lyra Silvertongue was only a witch legend.  
  
Alius insisted on stealing food, though she had more than enough money to pay for it. They ran with some of the street children their age after leaving their old clothes behind a trash can, and stealing an old outfit form a clothesline behind and old building. The next day, Alius and her daemon walked back to the garden, after waking up covered in straw in someone's shed. They laughed as they were interviewed by a policeman, about the whereabouts of a young girl with blond hair named Alius Mundus, who had been kidnapped.  
  
"I can't believe that! I don't have blond hair! Who do they think they're talking about?"  
  
Shinzui: "Really! We ran away."  
  
They were still laughing as they saw Lyra walking towards them down the street. 


	3. Footprints~Eternity 3

A/n: Thank you, everyone who likes this story. I think I may have introduced Lyra into this story too soon, though. Anyhow, if anyone knows Latin, they may know what Alius Mundus means, and how it pertains to His Dark Materials. I wish I could update my stories more often, but I'm always sick, and when I'm sick, I don't feel like writing. The next chapter of Jaguar Brazil; Year one might not be up for another week.  
  
Disclaimer: Philips Pullman owns every one of the characters from HDM, but since he isn't doing anything with them, I decided to "borrow" them. Borrow as in take without asking and never plan to return.  
  
Chapter three  
  
*this part is in Will's world*  
  
Zohrane was a thirteen-year-old girl, originally from America. She was sort of shy, and never talked at school, though she had many friends. She hated herself though, and was so caught up in thinking that everyone was watching her, that she didn't notice how twenty or thirty boys followed her around. She was tall, so she slouched and scowled at anyone who even looked at her.  
  
"You need more confidence," her mother told her, "because no one will like you unless you like yourself. Beside that, you have a lot of friends."  
  
Zohrane hated talking to her mother. "I don't care what they think."  
  
"You should. You have to stay in this school now. You chose it."  
  
Zohrane walked outside, kicking a stone, wishing she could just die already. Thirteen years was long enough. And why did she deserve to live, when a chicken didn't? She walked through the business section of Oxford, away from the schools. She never studied, but still got straight A's, even in PE, though she hated anyone knowing about it.  
  
She entered her secret place, in the roots of a big tree behind a small store, and looked around. At once, she was enraged. Someone had been inside. There were footprints all around, and they were huge. Zohrane, who liked to be called Zo, Zoe, or Ran, thought that they person who had made them must have been wearing combat boots or something. Or maybe there had been more than one person, because there were different sized footprints.  
  
But none of them led out.  
  
Zohrane's eyes swept over the ground, looking for prints leading out. The only way she could see was if they had exited using the same path they came in by, walking backwards. There was something strange near the back of the tree roots, half a footprint had been made, but the other half was not there. There were also several slashes along the roots, almost cutting them through.  
  
She walked slowly towards the cave entrance, telling herself she wasn't afraid. However, just as she got out of her little tree, fear got the best of her, and she ran around to the front of the shop.  
  
She would come back later, with something to arm herself in case the strange people in her secret space came back. For now, she was going over to her best friend's house to ask her about it.  
  
*  
  
  
  
"Allllllliiiiiii!" a loud giggling voice behind her said.  
  
Alius cringed. Nina Hooter, the most annoying girl from her school.  
  
"What are YOU doooooinnng here?" Nina said loudly.  
  
"None of your business," Alius snapped. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Ali?"  
  
Nina laughed. "It's just a nickynamey."  
  
Alius stared at the girl in disbelief. Had she just said nickynamey? "I live near Oxford. Why are YOU here?" She saw that Lyra was across the street, waving at her, and tried to end the conversation.  
  
"Go away."  
  
Nina rolled her eyes. "Really, Ali. You aren't the greatest actress. I know you really don't want me to go away."  
  
"Count to ten," Shinzui whispered from his perch as a parrot on her shoulder.  
  
Alius took a deep breath and help it in. "Oh, hey! I saw Frederick down the street, and told him you liked him. Since you are my friend, I thought I could set him up with you as a present. You know." Alius narrowed her eyes slightly. "Since I only care about your well being."  
  
"You did what?"  
  
Alius was a good actress. Her mouth dropped slightly, and her eyes widened. "Oh, honey! I thought you would have wanted me to!"  
  
"I can't believe you! We are no longer best friends!" Nina turned and shoved Lyra out of her way.  
  
"It's not like we ever were."  
  
  
  
  
  
Alius listened for over an hour to the story of Lyra's life. She scoffed when Lyra described so vividly what had happened when she and Ma Costa were hiding in the closet, but she was crying by the end, when Lyra and Will had to part. After the story, Alius say in silence for a minute. It was hard to believe the girl in the story was sitting right next to her, on the wooden bench.  
  
"Oh, Lyra! I'm so sorry!"  
  
Lyra looked down at her lap. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault."  
  
Alius said, "I know. But your story is just so tragic. I can't believe it! It has no ending. It can't end like that!"  
  
Lyra was silent.  
  
"I can't let it!"  
  
Lyra's head shot up. "What do you mean?"  
  
Alius hesitated. "I might know someone who could help. But it might be dangerous, and you could get killed."  
  
Lyra looked fierce. "I'll do anything!"  
  
Alius said, "But what about your promise? To the angel?"  
  
"I said I wouldn't use a window Will made with his knife."  
  
"Not that. You would obviously be breaking that promise. I mean what about the Republic?"  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I was thinking. You know, if you told me a lot about worlds and stuff, I could stay here and teach them all, and you could go find Will, and be citizens of both worlds."  
  
"Yes!" cried Lyra. "That's a great idea. But how do I get this help?"  
  
"Well…" said Alius. "Can we meet back here in an hour?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" Kara asked. "That the footprint was only half there? That doesn't make sense."  
  
Zohrane shrugged and sighed loudly. "I have no idea what all of this means, but some strange person with weird shoes was in my spot, and the never left, though they aren't there now."  
  
The girls were sitting cross-legged on Kara's bed, talking about what Zohrane had seen.  
  
Kara glanced out the window, and giggled. "There's crazy William Parry again."  
  
She was talking about her next-door neighbor.  
  
Zohrane looked out the window, and saw the boy stoop down and appear to pet a large animal, like a dog.  
  
"It's rude to make fun of him," Zohrane scolded loudly, forgetting that the window was half open.  
  
William looked up, scowled slightly and disappeared into the shadows.  
  
"I don't care!" Kara exclaimed. "He is a weirdo, and that is that."  
  
"Should we go back and see it?"  
  
"What?" Kara had a short attention span.  
  
"The tree." Zo rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh yeah. Wait. I hear my mum."  
  
"Kara! Time for dinner!" Kara's mother yelled.  
  
"Can we go later, after dark?"  
  
Zohrane: "Aren't you afraid?"  
  
"No!" Kara replied. "Are you?"  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Then meet me at your house around 9:00 PM."  
  
"All right," said Zohrane, slipping out of the window, and climbing carefully down.  
  
  
  
A/n: I'm sorry if this story is confusing, but I'm trying to move it along. I should have the next chapter up soon. Thank you for all of the nice reviews. 


	4. Running~Eternity 4

Alius stayed on the bench after Lyra had gone, grateful that no one was walking by. She took out an antique necklace, from under her new-old cloths from the clothesline. She rubbed its surface distractedly; trying to remember the words her father's friend Serafina Pekkala had taught her.  
  
Shinzui sat as a rabbit, on the empty space next to her, and looked at the necklace. They stared at it; Alius lost deep in thought, and her daemon slightly uncomfortably, thinking so hard.  
  
"Just call her!" he said finally. "Tell her it's an emergency!"  
  
Alius nodded and yelled, "Serafina Pekkala! Please hear me and come! It's an emergency! Please hurry! Be here in half an hour. Please we don't have long."  
  
He and her daemon sat there, breathing in the feeling of being a child playing in the Oxford streets. She longed to play with all the other street children, and reasoned that her witch friend would be able to find her wherever she was.  
  
"Alius… Let's not. What if Lyra comes here and we're gone?"  
  
"Then she's SoL."  
  
"Alius!"  
  
"Whatever. Let's go."  
  
Her daemon wanted to go too, and he knew if would be to no avail to argue with Alius. He gave in quickly, and the two ran off into the Oxford evening.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lyra was wandering around the grounds of Jordan College, since Saint Sofia's was so far away. She had already greeted all of the servants, and met the new kitchen children. She was a bit bitter to them, because she couldn't help but think that they were only there to take the place of Roger.  
  
She walked into the cellars, and tasted some gourmet wine. Then she returned to the market, and listen to a minstrel sing with Pantalaimon curled around her neck.  
  
As she walked back towards The Garden, she as started to see a black shape fly overhead. There were cries of astonishment form the people in the crowd, but Lyra knew who it was. She raced after Serafina Pekkala, knowing that it would be useless to yell at her, since she wasn't as loud as some of the mean dirty things some of the men were shouting after her. She turned, now a block away from the witch and panting, and made her way towards the business district of Oxford.  
  
  
  
A/n: I'm sorry this was a short chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer. Tell me what you think about my story in a review, or feel free to email me. Thanks! 


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